Split gauge tufting machine

ABSTRACT

This disclosure relates to a novel and improved tufting machine for producing relatively dense pile fabrics with standard gauge parts and wherein desired pattern effects can be obtained. The advantages of the invention are generally obtained by initiating relative movement between the gauge parts such as the needle, looper and cutting knife, and the backing fabric and needle plate. In accordance with the invention, the gauge parts are such that they always remain in registry during relative movement thereof. By this means, the gauge parts may be shifted distances lesser than the actual gauge of the parts so that rows of tufts may be produced which are spaced more closely than the gauge of the parts themselves. It will be seen, therefore, from the following specification that relatively dense pile fabrics can be produced without requiring relatively fine gauge parts with their inherent problems of operation.

United States Patent chllks William Watkins g 3.391654 7/1968 Barnes Primary Examiner.lames R. Boler Attorneys-Marshall J A Breen, Chester A. Williams, Jr. and

Julian Falk generally obtained by initiating relative movement between the gauge parts such as the needle, looper and cutting knife, and the backing fabric and needle plate. In accordance with the invention, the gauge parts are such that they always remain in registry during relative movement thereof. By this means, the gauge parts may be shifted distances lesser than the actual gauge of the parts so that rows of tufts may be produced which are spaced more closely than the gauge of the parts themselves. It will be seen, therefore, from the following specification that relatively dense pile fabrics can be produced without requiring relatively fine gauge parts with their inherent problems of operation.

INVENTOR. Charles W. Watkins Wk ATTORNEY PATENTEUAUG 31971 sum 1 ur 3 WITNESS PATENTEU nus 3197! 3,596,617

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Charles W. Watkins WITNESS 21ml Mum-M ATTORNEY PATENIEDMJI; 3|91| SHEET 3 OF 3 INVENTOK Charles W. Watkins ATTORNEY WITNESS: I End; womuxi SPLIT GAUGE TUFIING MACHINE BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION It has been known in the tufting art that pattern effects can be produced in pile fabrics by initiating relatively lateral movement of the needles with respect to the backing fabric. Such an apparatus is clearly shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,026,830 to Bryant et a1. Although this apparatus has gained relatively wide popularity in the industry, the mechanism has inherent limitations. In the structure of this patent, a needle bar and the needles are shifted laterally relative to the backing fabric and the loopers associated with the needles. As is known, during each penetration of the needle, a looper must be associated therewith to form a pile loop. In the patented device referred to, since the needles move laterally and the loopers remain stationary relative thereto, there is a problem of registry between the needles and the loopers as the needles are shifted laterally. During each penetration of the needle, after a lateral shift, the needle will associate itself with a different looper. If the shifting is not accurate or the shifting cam becomes worn, the looper will miss the loop on the needle causing a defect in the fabric. It will be seen, therefore, that this mechanism has certain undesirable limitations.

Another mechanism for accomplishing a similar purpose, to that described above, is illustrated and described in U.S. Pat No. 3,301,205 to R. T. Card. in this mechanism, the gauge parts remain stationary while the needle plate along with the backing fabric is shifted relative thereto. With the advent of new backing materials, such as the nonwovens, as opposed to woven jute backing, problems have been encountered with this mechanism in that the new type backings are more difficult to shift than the commonly used jute backings. Further, until this time, it has not been known to produce cut pile fabrics on this type of apparatus since the loops held by the loopers were required to be released in order to accommodate the shifting of the backing. lt will also be seen, therefore, that in the case of this type of device that there are also limitations in its use.

As will be apparent from the following detailed description, the present invention overcomes the inherent limitations in the above-described mechanisms and further provides a device wherein relatively dense pile fabrics can be produced without requiring the use of relatively fine gauge parts. In the present invention, the needles, loopers, and knives are tied together for relative lateral shifting movement so that all gauge parts remain in registry during shifting relative to the backing fabric. Further, since the gauge parts are shifted relative to the needle plate and backing fabric while remaining in registry, it is possible to shift the gauge parts at spacings closer together than the distance between the gauge parts themselves so that relatively closely spaced rows of tufts can be produced.

Accordingly, it is one object of the invention to provide a novel and improved tufting machine wherein fine gauge tufting can be accomplished without the use of relatively fine gauge parts.

It is another object of the invention to provide a novel and improved tufting machine wherein the needles and other associated gauge parts can be shifted relative to the backing fabric while maintaining said parts in registry.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel and improved method of forming relatively dense pile fabrics.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be best understood when reading the following detailed description with the accompanying drawings wherein;

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view of a tufting machine embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view of the tufting machine shown in FIG. 1 and taken at right angles thereto; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged partial perspective view of the mechanism of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a tufting machine is illustrated therein as comprising a machine frame 10 including a main shaft 12 supported for rotation therein. Carried on the main shaft 12 are a plurality of eccentrics 14, only one being shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, each of which carries a connecting rod 16 which drives a push rod 18 suitably supported in the machine frame 10 for reciprocating motion therein. A plurality of needles 20 are carried for reciprocating motion with the push rods 18 and for penetrating a backing fabric F as the backing fabric F moves across a needle plate 22 which supports the same. The backing fabric F is fed through the machine in a wellknown manner such as by feed rolls disposed fore and aft of the machine, as illustrated in FIG. 1, for example. Disposed below the backing fabric F and the needle plate 22 are a plurality of loopers 24 which are supported for oscillating movement in a looper shaft 26/Associated with each looper 24, there may be provided a knife 28 which is supported in a stationary manner in a knife block 30. As is known in the tufting art, the loopers 24 seize and hold the loops of yarn inserted through the backing fabric by the needles 20 and as the backing fabric F is fed along the needle plate 22, the loops move toward the rear of the looper 24 where they may be cut by the knives 28. The mechanism described thus far is considered conventional in the tufting art.

As further illustrated in FIG. I, the needles 20 are carried by a needle bar 32 which is disposed for relative lateral shifting in a needle bar support mechanism 34 which is in turn suitably attached to the push rods 18. The needle bar 32 is also attached at least at one end thereof to a support member 36 (FIGS. 2 and 3) and is supported in a U-shaped channel thereof so that the needle bar 32 may reciprocate relative to the support member 36. The looper shaft 26 is also supported at one end thereof to the support member 36 and is carried thereby so that the looper shaft may be oscillated or rocked relative to the support member 36. Connected to the bottom of the vertical support member 36 is a sliding plate 38 which is disposed for relative sliding movement in a plate support member 40 which is fixed to the frame of the machine. As also seen in FIG. 1, the knife shaft 30 is also fixed to the sliding plate 38 for sliding movement with said plate 38. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, a rod 42 is fixed to an outer face of the support member 36 and is supported in a bearing in the machine frame 10 so that said rod 42 may be reciprocated relative to the machine frame. The rod 42 is pivotably connected at its opposite end to a connecting rod 44 which is driven by an eccentric or cam 46. Motion is imparted to the cam 46 through a gear 48 carried by the main shaft 12, a chain 50, and a gear 52 which is part of a reduction unit or transmission drive 56. The output of the transmission 56 is through a shaft 58 which in turn carries the cam 46. The cam 46 is suitably designed to impart the degree of lateral shifting to the gauge parts in accordance with a desired pattern effect.

Reference to gauge parts is commonly used in the art to define the lateral distance between adjacent needles and associated loopers and which distance normally defines the distance between the rows of tufting in a normal tufting operation. In machines, such as described in the aforementioned two patents, when relative shifting between the gauge parts and the backing fabric was brought about, it was necessary to shift at least a full gauge or from the distance between one needle to the other so as to maintain registry between the gauge parts and to insure no defects in the fabric. In the present invention, however, it is not necessary to shift a full gauge width since all the gauge parts shift simultaneously and registry is always maintained. It will be apparent, therefore, that it is possible with the present invention to shift less than a full gauge distance so that relatively closely spaced rows of tufting can be produced with gauge parts having a greater width or distance apart than the actual distance between the rows of tufts produced by the gauge parts. As started above, this is possible because all of the gauge parts are shifted simultaneously relative to the backing fabric and always remain in register with one another. By initiating lateral shifting a distance less than the gauge width of the gauge parts and varying the speed of the fabric feed, such as for example increasing the speed, relatively dense pile fabrics can be produced having relatively closely spaced individual tufts both in the lateral and longitudinal directions. It is also possible that by varying the colors of yarns in the different needles or in varying the distance of the lateral shifting, many patterns or designs having widely different appearances can be produced. Other variations can also be used such as threading the needles with yarns of different thicknesses, textures, or composition to increase the design capabilities of the machine. It is also within the scope of the invention to operate the machine without knives and disposing the loopers for producing pure loop pile or combinations of loop and cut pile instead of pure cut pile, as illustrated in the drawings. A further advantage of the invention lies in the fact that the design cam 46 need not be machined with as great a relative accuracy as required in the prior art machines, since there is no danger of the gauge parts operating out of register with one another.

While the invention has been described in a specific embodiment in the detailed description above, it should be understood that various changes and modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim herein is:

1. In a tufting machine, a stationary frame, said frame including a head portion having a drive mechanism, a plurality of laterally spaced needles, a needle bar for supporting said needles, means supporting said needle bar for relative lateral shifting movement, means operably connecting said means supporting said needle bar to said drive mechanism for reciprocating said needle bar, said needle bar during reciprocating motion reciprocating said needles for inserting loops of yarn into a backing fabric, a plurality of laterally spaced loopers each being associated with a needle, a looper shaft supporting said loopers for intercepting the loops of yarn inserted by said needles and for holding the loops of yarn upon the return stroke of said needles during reciprocation thereof, means supporting said looper shaft for relative lateral shifting movement, laterally shiftable support means providing a common support for said needle bar and said looper shaft and coupling said needle bar with said looper shaft for simultaneous lateral shifting relative to said head, said drive mechanism and the backing fabric, and means for initiating lateral shifting movement of said laterally shiftable support means whereby said needles are shifted relative to said head, said drive mechanism and the backing fabric without changing the registry of the associated needles and loopers.

2. In a tufting machine as recited in claim 1 wherein said means supporting said looper shaft includes means for supporting said loopers for oscillating motion.

3. In a tufting machine as recited in claim 1 wherein said means for initiating lateral shifting movement of said laterally shiftable support means, includes means for initiating lateral shifting movement of said support means relative to said backing fabric at least at distances less than the distance between adjacent needles.

4. In a tufting machine as recited in claim 1 further comprising cutting means associated with said loopers for simultaneous lateral shifting therewith.

5. In a tufting machine as recited in claim 4, wherein said cutting means includes a knife block and a knife mechanism, and said knife mechanism being stationarily supported in said knife block. 

1. In a tufting machine, a stationary frame, said frame including a head portion having a drive mechanism, a plurality of laterally spaced needles, a needle bar for supporting said needles, means supporting said needle bar for relative lateral shifting movement, means operably connecting said means supporting said needle bar to said drive mechanism for reciprocating said needle bar, said needle bar during reciprocating motion reciprocating said needles for inserting loops of yarn into a backing fabric, a plurality of laterally spaced loopers each being associated with a needle, a lOoper shaft supporting said loopers for intercepting the loops of yarn inserted by said needles and for holding the loops of yarn upon the return stroke of said needles during reciprocation thereof, means supporting said looper shaft for relative lateral shifting movement, laterally shiftable support means providing a common support for said needle bar and said looper shaft and coupling said needle bar with said looper shaft for simultaneous lateral shifting relative to said head, said drive mechanism and the backing fabric, and means for initiating lateral shifting movement of said laterally shiftable support means whereby said needles are shifted relative to said head, said drive mechanism and the backing fabric without changing the registry of the associated needles and loopers.
 2. In a tufting machine as recited in claim 1 wherein said means supporting said looper shaft includes means for supporting said loopers for oscillating motion.
 3. In a tufting machine as recited in claim 1 wherein said means for initiating lateral shifting movement of said laterally shiftable support means, includes means for initiating lateral shifting movement of said support means relative to said backing fabric at least at distances less than the distance between adjacent needles.
 4. In a tufting machine as recited in claim 1 further comprising cutting means associated with said loopers for simultaneous lateral shifting therewith.
 5. In a tufting machine as recited in claim 4, wherein said cutting means includes a knife block and a knife mechanism, and said knife mechanism being stationarily supported in said knife block. 